This is a new feature I’m going to try my hand at. I’ve got a lot on my plate out here, but it feels like it would be a shame to waste some of the small technical Muay Thai know-hows I’ve run into, so I’m going to try to stop and film them in short segments when I come across a new one. Sometimes it will be something I’ve discovered in my own struggle to synthesize all the amazing technique that is surrounding me, but mostly I hope it is short pieces of instructions or help from those teaching me. I’m a little shy with the camera, and it always feels like an imposition to ask a Kru to stop and be filmed – but I’ll get over it. The cost of shyness is too high in this case. There is a wealth of technique in Thailand – even in a single gym there is a great variety of fighting styles and approaches. So this is my attempt to document and share some of it.
I struggled somewhat over what to call these segments because they’re not always my tips and for the most part I’m looking for the instructors themselves to demo and teach the techniques – I’m just the collector and the vector of the information. I am by no means an expert, but this video series isn’t about experts. Thailand is filled with non-expert experts. The lowliest guy at the gym, who you may never pay attention to and who has no social standing may be an absolute treasure trove of knowledge. (Likewise, the dude who won’t leave you alone in trying to advise you on everything might be an idiot.) So here’s to passing on whatever I can to more viewers, which was the original purpose of my YouTube channel when I first began filming Master K.
I’ll be putting the videos in a YouTube Playlist for convenience (below), and they’ll be published here on 8limbs.us as they are created (you can subscribe below!), but to start out this post will have a few. It’s a feature in the process of its own evolution. I’ve also added a few older videos to the Playlist that fit within the context of this feature, and some unpublished videos of the past.
The Sylvie’s Tips Playlist
A Few Recently Filmed Entries:
I talk about the importance of hip placement in Thai Clinch
Bank Petchrungruang shows the palm-to-palm hand position in a Muay Thai clinch squeeze – this improved my clinch a great deal.
Kru Hart Petchrungruang demonstrates the art of push in the Thai Clinch – this basic shoving has really started to help my inside game. It works both defensively and offensively.
Adding a little padding to your Muay Thai wrap
I show how whipping the arm straight down on the kick increases relaxation and speed for me.
And More
For those looking for more detailed instruction and techniques I put together a series of posts with extensive video (whole sessions) when training with Sakmongkol in February of 2014. If you have patience you can read and view them all here: Training with Sakmongkol.
I also tried to sum up what I learned in that visit to Pattaya, a visit that inspired me to move down here, in 15 New Techniques That Will Improve Your Muay Thai
